Royal Watch: Queen Not Suspected in Sandringham Whodunit; Pippa Preps for an 80s-Themed Bash

In a weekly report on London’s regal rumpus, VF.com’s Royal Watch plucks the best of Old Blighty’s tabloid news for you. In today’s edition: the Queen’s estate mystery, Pippa’s haute teepee, Catherine’s scout honors.

Where’s Sherlock Holmes when you need him? The new year didn’t get off to a soothing start for some members of the royal family, after the remains of a young woman were found on the grounds of Sandringham, the Norfolk home of the Queen and Prince Philip, just two miles from the main house. Circumstances at the scene “suggest this is a murder case” and not an accident, the chief investigator told the BBC. According to local residents, the police probe has been kept incredibly hush-hush, and the site has been under 24/7 surveillance since a dog walker found the body on New Year’s Day. Police have reopened lines of inquiry into two missing-person cases in the area: those of Alisa Dmitrijeva and Vitalija Baliutaviciene.

Meanwhile, although the papers reported last week that Will and Kate would be spending New Year’s at Birkhall for a comparatively tame celebration with Prince Charles and Camilla, the couple actually rang in 2012 at Pippa's party at the Middleton-family home in Berkshire, where she set up a rustic “reindeer herder” tent in the backyard. Perhaps the fête planning was the younger Middleton’s warm-up act for her next big fling: Kate’s 30th birthday? Pippa and Prince Harry are rumored to be organizing an 80s-themed extravaganza (honoring the decade of her birth, naturally). This must mean Pippa's supposedly “tacky” taste has been overcome?

And speaking of the Duchess of Cambridge’s dance card, it’s been full filled since last April—she’s undertaken a total of 34 royal engagements since the wedding. (Before you marvel, she’s got nothing on her industrious father-in-law, Prince Charles, who reportedly participated in 601 official events last year.) Her number will likely swell, given that she’s just announced her official charity patronages: Action on Addiction, East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices, the Art Room, and the National Portrait Gallery of London. A former Brownie herself, she’ll also help out at the North Wales Scout Association—and reportedly even wear a uniform while on duty.

A polo match, a charity gala, the Royal Opera House—all places you might expect to find a member of the royal family. But it turns out you needn't look further than the Darts World Championship. That’s where the Queen’s favorite granddaughter, Zara Phillips, and her husband Mike Tindall, were recently spotted. There was absolutely no mistaking the already unmistakable couple after British actor Ralf Little held up a scribbled sign alerting cameras and passersby: “Mike Tindall is behind me.” Classy!